MAKE TRIBE

Make Tribe: By Carling A.W. Elder

A few weeks ago, I met up with two lovely ladies to join a discussion about how Local Color Flowers could help grow creative conversation in our Baltimore community by teaching a terrarium class. As Lindsay Hite and Jessica D’Argenio Waller shared their vision for their newest project, Make Tribe, I grew more and more excited. Make Tribe would be a series of seasonal workshops for the sole purpose of sharing expertise, forging relationships, and feeding inspiration, and as we chatted I thought,  “It’s happening!” This event is already encouraging creative conversation between us, and it hasn’t even begun! Naturally, Local Color Flowers jumped at the chance to partner with Make Tribe.

As Lindsay and Jessica had explained, each Make Tribe event would be lead by a creative professional or “Partner” who wanted to share their expertise, but it wouldn’t be a class or lecture where you merely heard about their artform. Each event would be a workshop where you worked with your hands, got dirty, and took home a souvenir and a new skill. These parameters were of course a perfect fit for a terrarium class, and for Local Color Flowers since we love getting our hands dirty!

The day of Make Tribe’s inaugural event, I showed up at the venue with trays of gorgeous locally grown succulents from Farmhouse Plants and Flowers in Brookeville, Maryland. Lindsay and Jess had the venue decorated to perfection with pretty signs, hanging garlands, chic cocktails, and Make Tribe souvenir booklets.

 

Three long tables were set up in the middle of the room lined with supplies for building the terrariums. Waiting at each place setting was a different glass vessel, and as guests trickled in, they claimed their favorite one.

 

I loved sharing my knowledge of terrariums with all the creative spirits who attended this event. The enthusiasm of every participant was supportive and infectious, and the conversational  manner of the class opened the door for many questions, comments, and new friendships to form. Everyone’s personalities shone through in the terrariums they created; from which color succulents they choose, to the shape of their vessel, to the figurines and accents they added.

Special thanks to Lindsay Hite of Make Tribe for these beautiful photos. To see more photos from the class take a look at our flickr site!

It was truly wonderful to see such creativity blossoming all around, and to play a small part in bringing Make Tribe to life.

French Farm Inspired Photo Shoot!

Over the summer, I was so fortunate to be part of a totally amazing, creative, gorgeous photo shoot with lovely ladies from Jill Andrews Gowns and the uber-talented team of Lindsay and Shane from Readyluck!

The flowers we created for this shoot were very simple and natural. They added color to a mostly neutral palette.

The bouquets were made up of larkspur, baptisia and some wild weeds.

The tablescape was so much fun to create and it looked stunning with the fading sun.

The first centerpiece was a simple jar of late blooming lilacs.

The second arrangement was filled with larkspur, lilacs, allium and wild greens.

 

Thanks to Talmar, Plant Masters and Farmhouse Flowers for these beautiful blooms!

To see more from our French farm inspired shoot, check out 100 Layer Cake’s blog post and  LoCoFlo’s flickr site.

A Recap of May 2011-A Crazy Month!

May was a crazy month for LoCoFlo! We worked on 9 amazing weddings! Each one was unique, creative and full of beautiful flowers! Used the last of the real spring flowers, hyacinth, daffodils, tulips and ranunculus for May 7th’s weddings.

Then we moved into several straight weeks of PEONIES!

On Sunday, May 29th, we moved into deep, rich summer colors including fuchsia, purples and blues!

In addition to working on these great weddings, we started providing flowers to Apothecary Wellness and Spa in Federal Hill. If you haven’t been to the amazing spa, make an appointment now!

We were also lucky enough to be part of 2 awesome photo shoots. The first took place at Jordan Faye Contemporary in Federal Hill and was for Baltimore Bride magazine. Jordan’s space is one of the original Enoch Pratt Library buildings that has been turned into an art gallery/event space. It’s perfect for an intimate wedding or party. The second shoot was coordinated by the photographers at Readyluck and the ladies of Jill Andrew’s Gowns. I’ll share more photos as they become available –but for now-just know-that a cow ate one of the bouquets during the shoot!

If all that weren’t enough-my  fab, web designer/delivery MVP/cooler builder/compost turner created an amazing new website for us. It has great new features including an interactive “What’s Blooming Now”  tool! Check it out!

Finally, we added some great, new help to the LoCoFlo team! We’ve now got a new designer, new design assistant and an awesome INTERN! A big thanks to these wonderful women for being passionate about flowers and buying local!

Like I said, it’s been a crazy month! We’re looking forward to the rest of this crazy season!

Technorati Tags: Readyluck,Jill Andrews Gowns,Apothecary Wellness Spa

Real Weddings: Callan and Jerry

Callan and Jerry were married on a gorgeous Sunday morning in September in historic Mt Vernon Park. I can't lie, since it was in the park, Eric and I dropped off the flowers, went and had breakfast and then watched the ceremony from a nearby sidewalk. Everything was just beautiful! A perfect Baltimore wedding!

When I first met with Callan and Jerry back in the winter, Callan told me she wanted to incorporate daisies in all shapes and sizes in the wedding. She also told me that the " theme" of the wedding was "a Bicycle Built for Two". Who couldn't love that! I told Callan that daisies were probably not in season in early September-but not to worry. We would pull together lots of "daisy looking" flowers to fit in with her theme.

Callan's bouquet was filled with white and yellow gerber daisies, zinnias, dahlias daisy mums and asters. We also added a few splashes of mountain mint.

The girls bouquets were similar and looked great against their dresses.

The reception took place right across the street from the park at the Peabody Court Hotel. The centerpieces were made up of eclectic pieces that Callan had collected including antique books, loose tea tins, tea pots, tea cups, colorful glass goblets, salt and pepper shakers and more. While each table was unique, they all looked perfect together!

    

As if all of these creative touches weren't enough, Callan and Jerry also had me decorate their "bicycle built for two" With cut flowers and tulle bows-what better way to ride off into the sunset!

Thanks to all of the growers who provided such beautiful flowers for this wedding including Belvedere Farm, Farmhouse Flowers, Locust Point Flowers and Talmar.

Special thanks to Lindsay MacDonald for the beautiful photos. To see more photos of Callan and Jerry, check out Lindsay’s blog or check out LoCoFlo’s flickr site!

Congratulations to Callan and Jerry-an adorable, creative, loving couple! Thanks for letting LoCoFlo share in your special day!